Bitponics Web-Connected Sensors Help Your Indoor Garden Grow | Hydroponics | TechNewsDaily.com

Bitponics Web-Connected Sensors Help Your Indoor Garden Grow | Hydroponics | TechNewsDaily.com:
Not everyone has a backyard for growing a large garden. For people in cramped spaces — say, a New York City apartment — a hydroponic garden is a good way to grow plants without having a patch of ground. In fact, it doesn’t even use dirt. Instead, plants grow in a nutrient solution.

One benefit to the small space is that sensors can easily measure all the conditions, such as pH and light levels, to let you know if your garden is healthy. That's where Bitponics comes in. The company's eponymous product is a Web-connected device, about the size of a Wi-Fi router, that operates a suite of sensors and uploads data from them to an online service — as frequently as every five minutes."

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Orchids specialize in diversity - Times-Standard Online

Orchids specialize in diversity - Times-Standard Online: "EUREKA -- The Humboldt Orchid Society will hold its annual Orchid Show from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Humboldt Bay Aquatic Center, 921 Waterfront Drive (next to the Adorni Center at the foot of L Street). Admission is a suggested donation of $2.
The show includes a large display of home-grown blooming orchids by society members, as well as those that need greenhouse care. Orchids will be on sale by club members and local growers. Photography is encouraged.
The “Plant Doctor” will be on hand to answer questions and give advice on orchid care. There will also be raffle prizes."

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Edmonton Corpse Flower Bloom To Stink Like Rotting Meat

Edmonton Corpse Flower Bloom To Stink Like Rotting Meat: "EDMONTON - A giant plant is preparing to bloom in Edmonton, but visitors should be prepared to hold their noses.

Staff at the Muttart Conservatory predict its "corpse flower" will open in two to three weeks.

Along with a large purple-reddish bloom, it will also give off a stench like rotting meat.

The tropical plant is found in the wild in Indonesia but is also grown in greenhouses around the world."

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Gardening & More: Tropical plants create an island of oasis | Weekly_Features_Columns | Metrowny.com

Gardening & More: Tropical plants create an island of oasis | Weekly_Features_Columns | Metrowny.com:

"Gardening & More: Tropical plants create an island of oasis
Tuesday March 19, 2013 | By:Connie Oswald Stofko |

MY, WHAT BIG LEAVES YOU HAVE ­— The anthurium is an indoor that will lend a tropical feel to a covered patio. You can use houseplants outside, but keep them in shady spots. Photo by Connie Oswald Stofko.
WILLIAMSVILLE — Staycations have become popular in recent years, and for good reason. Our summers have been sunny and warm, even hot, but not as muggy as many vacation locales. Why travel, when it is so lovely at home?

Still, you may want to give your backyard an exotic touch and make it feel like a backyard oasis. "



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Try these tips for tending to orchids - Garden - IslandPacket.com

My grandmother tended a Boston fern, my mother a philodendron that she called "parlor ivy." Both house plants were labeled "easy care," with forgiving ways as to their watering, feeding and light requirements.

The houseplants of yesterday are still to be found but not always in the house. Boston ferns in the Lowcountry might be seen carpeting our shady gardens or hanging in baskets outdoors. Philodendron will survive mild winters if grown outdoors in a protected space.

Indoor gardening offers creative solutions for hobbyists

Watertown Daily Times | Indoor gardening offers creative solutions for hobbyists

Gardening can be a fickle hobby in the north country: just one batch of cold weather from Mother Nature can spoil crops, negating long hours of planting and preparation.

But not if it’s done under a light without any soil.

That’s why Thomas S. and Kelly T. Mason launched North Country Hydroponics at the Price Chopper Plaza, 1283 Arsenal St., an indoor garden store offering planting systems to grow nearly everything.

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TV Host Presents Mini Gardens

Television gardening host Arlena Schott and Jeremie Miniatures brought the “Magic of Miniature Gardening” to local enthusiasts at the P&L Concrete and Garden Center in Escalon on May 15.

Schott’s lively patter and energetic personality held the attention of more than 30 fans as she rapidly created container gardens out of soil, wood and plants complete with miniature houses and outdoor furniture that even included barbecue grills.

The Schönbrunn Palm House - Panorama News - Austrian Times Online News - English Newspaper

The Schönbrunn Palm House

The Palm House in the palace park at Schönbrunn in Vienna is the largest of its kind on the European continent.

It houses dozens of Mediterranean, tropical and subtropical plants.

Emperor Franz Joseph commissioned the construction of the Palm House in 1882. Architect Franz Segenschmid had his hands full: with a length of 111 meters, 2,500 square meters in area and 4,900 square meters of glass, it is the largest Palm House on the European continent. 45,000 glass panes were installed.

When is it safe to move tropical houseplants outside?

When is it safe to move tropical houseplants outside? - chicagotribune.com

Can I move my tropical houseplants out into the garden now?

— Jerry, Evanston

Can I move my tropical houseplants out into the garden now?

— Jerry, Evanston

Tropical plants add interesting foliage color and texture as well as flowers to your annual garden displays. But since most of the plants we grow as houseplants come from warm regions, they cannot tolerate temperatures below about 50 degrees. They also need to be gradually accustomed to the shift from the low light and protection of the indoors to stronger light and variable conditions outside.

 

Hawkesbury orchid show this weekend

Hawkesbury orchid show this weekend - Local News - News - Rouse Hill Times

 

Joe Gafa in his massive greenhouse. Picture: PHIL ROGERS

QUAKERS Hill resident Joe Gafa’s consuming passion for cultivating orchids is evident in his glasshouse, spilling with almost 3000 exotic plants.

Some of his exotic flowers will be on display at the Orchids Out West show at Hawkesbury Racecourse, Clarendon, between May 25 and May 27.

The steel worker started growing orchids 28 years ago and has collected several prizes including first place at a Orchid Society of NSW competition last June when he entered the flower dendrobium lindleyi which he named after his wife, Carmen.

Aristolochias add a tropical twist

Aristolochias add a tropical twist

Many of the tropical plants you see growing in botanical greenhouses are beyond the reach of most Bay Area gardeners. One wonderful exception is Aristolochia, commonly called Dutchman's pipe. Hailing from a variety of moist woodlands in North and South America, aristolochias are vining climbers, ranging in size from the modest A. fimbriata to monstrous species such as A. littoralis (A. elegans) or A. gigantea, which will reach heights of 25-30 feet. Most have kidney-to heart-shaped green leaves, which serve as a lush backdrop to the unusual flowers. And with Dutchman's pipes, it's definitely the flowers that draw collectors and curiosity seekers to these plants.

Indoor gardening: Exotic house plants

Indoor gardening: Exotic house plants | Newsolio

Exotic house plants have unique needs based upon their natural habitat. Understand their environment and recreate it so they thrive in your home.

The difficulty with caring for exotic plants is understanding their needs. If you already keep houseplants, you might be tempted to care for them like you care for other plants. However, this can lead to trouble. Exotics come from a different environment. They have different needs. For exotics to thrive, you must understand how they cooperate with their habitat in the wild and recreate a similar habitat for them in your home.

Indoor gardening: Exotic house plants

Take tropical orchid plants for example. Orchid plants are epiphytes or “air plants.” That means they live high off the ground attached to tree branches. In their tropical rainforest perch, they have limited access to water and nutrient rich soil. Orchid plants are not parasites. They do not sink roots into their host to steal moisture and nutrients. They fend for themselves by adapting to their environment and becoming efficient users of water and nutrients.

Russell Studebaker: Easy-to-grow orchid gives off citrus scent | Tulsa World

The Lady of the Night Orchid, seen here in the greenhouse of Tulsa orchardist Joe Bedwell, is named for the citrusy fragrance that the blooms emit only after dark. RUSSELL STUDEBAKER/Courtesy

For those who love the smell of citrus and exotic orchid flowers, a plant to know and grow is Brassavola nodosa.

Orchid experts say it is one of the easiest orchids to grow, even on a sunny windowsill. I grew one in the Woodward Park greenhouses, that is until someone admired it so much that the plant left with them. But at last I have reconnected with this orchid and have two flowering sized plants that I ordered online.

You can't eat the fruit, but you can add the tropics to your yard with a banana plant

You can't eat the fruit, but you can add the tropics to your yard with a banana plant | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

There is nothing that can add a touch of the tropics to the backyard, porch, patio or pool than the coarse-textured foliage offered by bananas, and the Japanese fiber banana is one that almost anyone can grow.

I recently had the opportunity to see a wonderful presentation shot mostly in northeastern locations like New Hampshire, Connecticut and New York.

Though many of the wonderful homes featured cottage gardens and were at houses dating back to the early 1800s, I could not help but notice the use of bananas either in the landscape or in containers. This is certainly appropriate because our ancestors of the Victorian period certainly placed importance on the role of tropical foliage like bananas, elephant ears and castor beans. Too bad they did not have access to the Japanese fiber banana.

Tropical and Exotic Plants? In Wayland?

Tropical and Exotic Plants? In Wayland? - Wayland, MA Patch

During school vacation we went to Naples, Fla. One of the very first things I noticed and truly appreciated was all the lush fauna and flora that blanketed the landscape. Here in Wayland the landscape is filled with rhododendron, arborvitaes, azaleas, maples and oaks. In Naples, it’s all about the palms, yucca, variegated dwarf schefflera, brightly colored crotons, foxtail ferns and the beautiful bird of paradise.

What’s so wonderful about most of these plants, however, is that with proper care (i.e. lighting, moisture, location and temperature), they make great houseplants and add a tropical effect to any décor. 

Conservatories will bring the tropics to you | The Jamestown Sun | Jamestown, North Dakota

If you ever find yourself visiting a botanical garden, you will notice many similar features throughout the design. Whether it is the Como Park in St. Paul, Minn., The Chicago Botanic Gardens in Illinois, the Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania or the Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg, one of the most eye-catching features is the conservatory.

The conservatory is a large glass building which houses the tropical and exotic plants that cannot be grown outdoors in the region. Unlike a greenhouse, which is used to propagate and grow new plants, the conservatory is a large display case of new and mature growing plants. Usually designed with a Victorian look, they are quite unique in the garden landscape.

Rebloom Your Orchid

Rebloom Your Orchid - Huntington-Belle Haven, VA Patch

Phalaenopses (phals for short) are one of the easiest and most rewarding plants to grow indoors—they can give years of blooms if taken care of properly. Please see photos above to identify this type of orchid, commonly sold in the big box stores, grocery stores, plant nurseries.    

Their light requirements are the most important part of successful orchid reblooming. Phals (and most other orchids) will not rebloom if they don't get enough sunlight. Phals require direct sun up to 11:30 a.m. and indirect light the rest of the day. When the temperature gets cold by the window in the winter, this is good as it initiates their flower spike. Sometimes one must take the phal outside in the fall for cooler night temperatures (minimum low is 60 degrees) to help it initiate a spike. 

Hydroponics for the indoor gardener

Hydroponics for the indoor gardener | Eugene Daily News

If you have the winter blues and are longing for the beginning of the spring gardening season, consider hydroponic gardening. Hydroponics is the science of growing plants without soil and brings gardening indoors for anyone regardless of space or resource limitations. Instead of soil, an inert growing medium is used in combination with a nutrient rich system supplied directly to the roots, and either artificial light or sunlight if it is sufficient.

Hydroponics systems on average use 10% of the water that traditional growing methods use, can be grown without the use of pesticides in a more sterile environment, and in some cases grown without seasonal interruption.

Yardsmart: Orchids can survive holidays with TLC

Yardsmart: Orchids can survive holidays with TLC » Ventura County Star

I appreciate orchids most in winter, when large spray of bright flowers chases away the doldrums. They make such wonderful holiday gifts because their blooms last for weeks, sometimes even months. Orchids add festive color in lieu of short-lived poinsettias.

Whenever someone gives me an orchid, it looks great at first but gradually shrinks down to a husk of its former self. Perhaps it's because of my desert climate or an innate disability with house plants.

Southern Gardening - Rex begonia is great choice for Christmas

Southern Gardening - Rex begonia is great choice for Christmas | Home & Garden | Hattiesburg News

The poinsettia may be the quintessential holiday plant because of its bright and colorful bracts, but there are some non-traditional plants that can be just as festive and spread as much cheer.

One of the most unusual I’ve seen is a miniature cherry tomato in full fruit, displayed for holiday sales.

I have admired Rex begonia for many years, and I think this group of plants has the potential to be more than a beautiful indoor plant. It could take its place as a cornerstone of holiday decorations.

Rex Begonias are primarily indoor plants known for their colorful and textured foliage. They get their name from the Latin word for king, and the foliage certainly looks like royalty. The coarse- textured leaves are colorful, with streaks and splashes of silver, cream and burgundy.